Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student

Something happens in students when they define themselves as makers and inventors and creators. They discover powerful skills-problem-solving, critical thinking, and imagination-that will help them shape the world's future ... our future. If that's true, why isn't creativity a priority in more schools today? Educators John Spencer and A.J. Juliani know firsthand the challenges teachers face every day: School can be busy. Materials can be scarce. The creative process can seem confusing. Curriculum requirements can feel limiting. Those challenges too often bully creativity, pushing it to the side as an "enrichment activity" that gets put off or squeezed into the tiniest time block. We can do better. We must do better if we're going to prepare students for their future. LAUNCH: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student provides a process that can be incorporated into every class at every grade level ... even if you don't consider yourself a "creative teacher." And if you dare to innovate and view creativity as an essential skill, you will empower your students to change the world-starting right now. Look, Listen, and Learn Ask Lots of Questions Understand the Problem or Process Navigate Ideas Create Highlight What's Working and Failing Are you ready to LAUNCH?

We believe that all kids are naturally creative and that every classroom should be filled with creativity and wonder.

We want to see teachers unleash the creative potential in all of their students so that kids can be makers, designers, artists, and engineers.

It is because of these beliefs that we wrote this book. We wrote it for ourselves, for our colleagues, for our friends, for our students, and for you. Because ultimately, we believe that you have the power to inspire kids and create a ripple effect that lasts for years to come.